Catharsis
by Cheshire
Summary: Events were different before Buffy first came to Sunnydale, changing everything for the Slayer and her friends. will have slash UNFINISHED


Warnings: Total AUness...OOCing, violence, adult language, adult content,   
slash, character deaths  
Pairings: As of pt. 0, Xander/Buffy...more to come  
Summary: An alternate universe Buffy multipart fanfic where events before   
Welcome to the Hellmouth (Buffy's coming to Sunnydale) differ greatly from   
what they were...including some of the episodes happening pre-Buffy.  
Disclaimer: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, the characters, plots, mythology,   
etc. belong to Joss and co. I'm borrowing for non-profit fan means.  
  
Catharsis  
by Cheshire  
  
0  
  
He stared into the night, at the girl moving gracefully against her undead opponents, her body twisting and turning in a parody of a dance. It was easy to realize just how powerful the Slayer was when one was faced with her fighting skills. It was so hard to imagine her deftly killing off demons when during the day she was nothing more than an everyday freak. Although, at school, it was generally the freaks you had to watch out for. Xander knew that quite well.  
  
Letting out soft breaths that would give anyone a hard time finding him he moved closer, carefully staying under cover of the trees and large tombstones surrounding the clearing in which Buffy Summers fought against a not-so-recently dead vampire. The new master vamp in town was taking quite an interest in her style, dissecting each piece as he sent lackeys of varying degrees of strength after her. It would have been amusing if not for the fact the new master had also taken an interest in one Alexander Harris, leader of the only pack of Primals in Northern America.  
  
Xander growled softly at the memory of the last fight he was forced into. He generally avoided the vampires, losing them along the streets they thought they knew but really couldn't even grasp. Sunnydale could be a labyrinth with the right guide. But last time it had not been just the usual cannon fodder, instead a leech with a bad bleach job and a British accent who he had seen a few times talking with the new master and ordering other vamps around. Obviously at least a century old, plus a childe, probably Angelus'. The hyena-Primal could only guess that they were finally getting the hint and realizing that Xander was more powerful than they had originally thought.  
  
Buffy let out a yell, falling to the ground with her stake flying feet away. Letting out a sigh the dark haired teenager stepped forward out of the shadows, walking calmly towards where the fledgling was readying to give the final blow. The surprised look on the Slayer's face when the dead boy exploded into dust just as his fist descended was worth the inconvenient dust now staining Xander's black clothing.  
  
"Xander?!" her voice was shocked, then quickly suspicious. "What do you want?"  
  
"To be legal drinking age, a harem of hott mute chicks, world peace..." he trailed off with a grin and a chuckle. "To keep you alive long enough for you to dust Angelus."  
  
"Angelus?" Her blue eyes widened, staring deeply into the boy's for a moment before looking away, too disconcerted by the unfamiliar...unhuman...emotions within the ebony orbs. "Is that the new baddie's name?"  
  
"And they say blonde's are slow on the uptake?" He casually took a step backwards before she began to rise, knowing better then to be within arms reach of her.  
  
"So he's after you, too? Why? He in the market for a house broken pet?"  
  
"Har-de-har-har, Slayer. From what I've been able to find out, I'm pretty sure it's got to do with that one blonde bitch I dusted a few weeks back...what was her name? Daria? Dara? Anyways, reminded me way too much of Queen C. when she came up and just expected us to help her kill you. I tried explaining that we don't merc for vamps, and when she wouldn't listen...well...."  
  
"You went along with her and stabbed her in the back just before her plan would have worked?" The blonde was walking, starting up her patrol once more, and the brunette fell into step beside her.  
  
"Exactly. Glad someone appreciates my work." He fell into the light tone he was used to using at school, used to using around the Slayer and her Scooby-gang wannabes.  
  
"Well, I might as well, considering that's three times you've saved my life, now. Why don't we just make it official that you still want to boff me and get it over with?" Both pairs of eyes carefully scanned the night as they spoke, voices lowered out of practice and necessity.  
  
"It isn't about sex...although if you want to I know this great little crypt just a few plots down with this awesome set of-."  
  
"NO, thanks," she quickly interrupted, crinkling her nose at the idea of sleeping with anyone evil. Especially knowing where that mouth has been: In the flesh of multiple human victims.  
  
"Your loss," he finished with a shrug. "Saving you is more about convenience. You keep the vampires and other ghoulies down. That makes it easier for us to work. Oh, speaking of which, what are you doing next Friday? There's another one of those annoying apocalypse-bent daemons coming to town and I really don't want the world to end before I at least graduate from that hell hole of a school." He grinned at his unintended pun, turning his head quickly to the right as he heard a noise, nostrils flaring to no avail since the wind was blowing towards that section of the cemetery.  
  
The Slayer had caught his movement and eased her hand towards her inner jacket pocket where she had put her stake back. They both continued on casually, Xander moving closer and linking his right arm in her left. Playing up the look of two teenagers on a romantic walk through the graves...sure, not very plausible, but the vampires never seemed to be suspicious of why a person would be sitting alone in a cemetery after dark, so why would they wonder why someone was on a date there?  
  
They continued their conversation. "Right, I'll put it in my book just before my manicure...wouldn't want my nails to chip. So, back to this Angelus guy...what do you know about him?"  
  
"Only a little more than you do. He came to town shortly after you did, staged a coup against the Master and won. He now has most of the vampires in town under his thrall, excluding a few who have somehow managed to elude him and who are probably going to be dead within the month, anyways. He's two-hundred some years old, and was probably a close relative to the Master himself. If the rumors were true and that Darcy chick was his sire, then the Master was his grandsire. There's a lot of power in that bloodline."  
  
"Great-patricide...what won't these vamps do?"  
  
"Sunbathe?"  
  
"Smart-ass."  
  
Xander leered. "Nice to know you still notice my ass. I do have it on good authority it's one of my best features...not that all of them aren't."  
  
"Oh, I don't know, the sociopathic hyena part isn't exactly sexy." This time they both had to fight from tensing as a distinctive rustling came from the trees about thirty feet away.  
  
"Really? I always thought that was a big draw." Realizing that the conversation was about to be interrupted, he continued on with his briefing. "Angelus has two childer with him, one named Spike who packs a mean punch and a bad dye job and another who's name I never caught but who's supposed to have some scary vision-power thing."  
  
" 'Scary vision-power thing?' Wow, the intellectual level of this conversation just dropped to about third grade. No wonder you get D's in English."  
  
"Hey, I'm proud of those D's! I earned those D's. That's saying more than you...having Willow hack into the school's files and change your grades."  
  
Buffy blinked, turning her attention completely to the monster on her arm. "How did you know about that?! I mean...um...."  
  
"Everyone knows about it, bleach-brain. It's not like someone who never has her homework done and who misses fifty percent of her classes can get on the honor roll with great ease."  
  
"You're in class less than I am and you're still passing."  
  
"That's because I actually know what we're supposed to be doing, not just sitting around twirling my hair and thinking about my latest jock-conquest." It was just as he finished the last word that a blur of motion caught their eyes, a group of half a dozen vampires running from the trees straight at them. "Oh, goodie," he deadpanned, releasing the Slayer's arm and falling into a more alert stance.  
  
The blonde was in motion as soon as their arms disconnected, running to meet the leeches and driving her stack into the heart of the nearest one. The others weren't so easily defeated. As three more worked together to disable her, the remaining two broke away and came towards the Primal, fangs bared and hands closed into claws on one and fists on another. Xander rolled his eyes.  
  
When the last of Buffy's opponents were dusted the hyena-possessed boy was already gone, three piles of dust settled around the area he had been. Sighing in frustration the blonde put away her stake, wiped off her clothing as best she could, and headed for home, ready to get a few hours of sleep before having to get ready for school. 


End file.
